After six days of opening arguments in the impeachment trial of Donald Trump, senators now get the chance to ask questions. Questions are submitted in writing to be read by Chief Justice John Roberts, with answers generally limited to five minutes. Wednesday, Jan 29, 2020 · 9:07:45 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner xI'd like a Senate Dem to ask Trump’s lawyers to explain what would stop a Dem POTUS from retaliating against McConnell by pressuring China to announce an investigation of his wife’s family shipping company—so long as said POTUS claimed to be concerned about corruption.— Brian Beutler (@brianbeutler) January 29, 2020 Bonus points if that question included the word “cocaine.” Wednesday, Jan 29, 2020 · 9:11:01 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner Both the «hypothetical» about Mitt Romney's son and Jay Sekulow playing Conspiracy Catchphrase are signs that Republicans think the danger of a witness vote is behind them.From here on, they're just having fun. Nothing said makes any difference as far as they are concerned. They’re continuing this trend now by talking about lethal aid, which is simply a chance for some Trump rah-rah, and completely ignores history that the Senators know well. Wednesday, Jan 29, 2020 · 9:12:52 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner Expect more of this off-topic nonsense now that McConnell believes he has all the votes he needs to defeat a call for witnesses. And don’t be surprised if the House team starts shading toward complaints that the Senate actions are playing into obstruction.

As Senate Republicans attempt to recover from their tailspin in arguments over calling former national security adviser John Bolton to testify in the impeachment trial of Donald Trump, new information emerged Wednesday directly refuting Trump's assertion that Bolton never expressed concern about his Ukraine policy at the time. In a statement Wednesday, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Eliot Engel relayed that Bolton «strongly implied» in a Sept. 23 phone call with him that Trump's ouster of U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch was improper. “On that call, Ambassador Bolton suggested to me — unprompted — that the committee look into the recall of Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch,” Engel said of a phone call between the two men. "He strongly implied that something improper had occurred around her removal as our top diplomat in Kyiv.”

You can't make this degree of corruption up. Moscow Mitch McConnell, the guy who has promised again and again that he is working with Donald Trump's impeachment lawyers to make sure that Trump will not be convicted and removed from office, has gotten campaign donations from those lawyers. This year. For his 2020 reelection campaign. The Louisville Courier Journal reviewed campaign finance data for McConnell, finding that Ken Starr gave the maximum allowed, $2,800, on July 31, 2019. He's been a donor to every one of McConnell's campaigns since 2020. McConnell's gotten two separate donations from Robert Ray for a total of $5,600. Those were on Sept. 30, 2019, 12 days after The Washington Post reported on the whistleblower report that Trump was withholding aid to Ukraine until the country agreed to announce an investigation into Joe and Hunter Biden. McConnell's campaign blew off the glaring appearance of corruption in the transaction, taking a swipe at House Democrats. «The absence of any adequate arguments by House impeachment managers seems to be playing a pretty meaningful role however,» McConnell's campaign manager Kevin Golden said. Clearly the money isn't a bribe for McConnell to ensure Trump's acquittal, because that's been a foregone conclusion from the get-go. Moscow Mitch promised it. So it must be a reward. It's time to end McConnell's destructive stranglehold on the republic. Please give $1 to our nominee fund to help Democrats and end McConnell's career as Senate majority leader.

Alan Dershowitz uncorked a defense of Donald Trump Wednesday afternoon that left listeners stunned and bewildered, asking, “Did he really just say that?” The answer is yes. Specifically, Dershowitz claimed, “If a president does something which he believes will help him get elected in the public interest, that cannot be the kind of quid pro quo that results in impeachment.”

After six days of opening arguments in the impeachment trial of Donald Trump, senators now get the chance to ask questions. Questions are submitted in writing to be read by Chief Justice John Roberts, with answers generally limited to five minutes. Wednesday, Jan 29, 2020 · 7:33:15 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner Stabenow asks the House managers to correct “falsehoods” in the Trump team’s arguments. Zoe Lofgren takes this fat pitch. Moves back again to the discussion of how Zelensky demonstrated that he was resistant to Trump’s demands until it was clear that assistance wasn’t coming. That point was one of the best that was developed in the Senate trial.  Wednesday, Jan 29, 2020 · 7:35:49 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner Next question is to the Trump team to ask if the House tried to sue about executive privilege over the Christmas break while the articles were waiting for delivery to the Senate. Which … that’s kind of a pointless question, because not only does everyone know the answer, nothing about it has any connection to the case. Philbin — who has still taken every swing except for a pop-up by Dershowitz — clearly thinks so as well, because he’s just repeating what he said in response to another question about subpoenas. Wednesday, Jan 29, 2020 · 7:44:04 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner House managers given the chance to address the “overturn the election” argument from Team Trump. Schiff takes this one—after first pointing out that the single case Trump’s team just called “pretty fast” has been in the courts for nine months and is still multiple steps away from a decision. Schiff: “By definition if you’re impeaching a president that president is in office and has won an election. … Impeachment was put in the Constitution not as a punishment, but to protect the country.” Schiff effectively shredding the idea that you can’t impeach “close to the election” or in the first term. Schiff also doing a terrific job in identifying the damage Trump did in withholding aid and pushing Russian conspiracy theories. Wednesday, Jan 29, 2020 · 7:47:17 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner Trump’s team gets another chance to beat up on the House and play to the Senate with a you don’t need to hear witnesses, because dealing with important Senate stuff. It’s clear this is one of the real “closing arguments” for the Republican side: The Senate is too important to waste it’s time discovering facts. The House needs to do all the work and deliver the case wrapped in a bow. Philbin again delivering the Trump would demand a “long list of witnesses” that would cause things to “drag on for months” threat. Wednesday, Jan 29, 2020 · 7:55:15 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner Next to the House side, is an opportunity to smack down exactly the “witnesses would take too long” question. Hakeem Jeffries gets the chance to take this slam dunk. Points out that the House took up to five depositions a week. Restates the scope of Trump’s crimes. Jeffries knocking this one out of the park in his details and delivery. “This. Is. A. Trial.” A top notch job in bringing the historical facts, as well as the importance of witnesses. I do wish we would get back to how Roberts can expedite challenges. Wednesday, Jan 29, 2020 · 7:56:28 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner And Trump’s team gets to … sigh … once again talk to issues of Trump’s executive privilege. This is at least the third time already that Philbin has had an opportunity to make claims about how Trump can shut everyone up. If you’ve been waiting for a coffee break, consider this it.

More than 100 Democratic members from both the House of Representatives and the Senate have filed a legal brief calling on a top court to reject a Trump administration attempt to gut vital protections for migrant children in U.S. custody, warning that “In particular, the Regulations effectively authorize the indefinite detention of migrant children.” While not perfect, the 1997 Flores Agreement improves the treatment of children, prohibiting the detention of kids for more than 20 days, “and, while they are detained, requires that they be treated with safety and dignity under basic standards of care,” immigrant rights advocacy group America’s Voice said last year. But in August, the administration announced a regulation to terminate the agreement, leaving advocates to fear kids could be returned to an era of “no schooling, no recreation, no doctors” while in custody.

It's the highest-resolution image of the sun's surface ever captured.

India has become competitive in both polyester yarn and fabric businesses in the last couple of quarters

Kotak Commodity Services will look for new buyers of cotton in countries such as Bangladesh, Indonesia, Taiwan and Vietnam to make up for any possible shortfall in sales to China

Nissan's big boy pickup is better looking than ever and it's still sensibly priced.

The Quest and The Maze will bring a mix of fantasy and reality competition to Disney's streaming service.

They're like regular jellyfish, but faster and more awesome.

Animal-like, four-legged robots have been a crowd pleaser since Boston Dynamics’ BigDog, and Stanford’s Doggo shows how the technology can be made open source, accessible, and educational. Doggo’s creators will bring the diminutive robot, plus its smaller and larger siblings Pupper and Woofer, to TC Sessions: Robotics+AI on March 3. P.S. Early bird ticket sales […]

Drone delivery may not make a lot of sense for food or parcel delivery yet, but for hospitals it could be a lifesaver. A new test program is being inaugurated at UC San Diego’s Jacobs Medical Center, where Matternet drones operated by UPS will fly blood samples and other items to and from other nearby […]

Waymo will start delivering parcels for UPS using its self-driving Chrysler Pacifica minivans in Phoenix as part of a broader partnership with the shipping and logistics company. The companies said Wednesday that Waymo will pilot autonomous vehicle package pickup in metro Phoenix — the same area where its self-driving vehicles already operate. The minivans will […]

Facebook beat Wall Street estimates in Q4 but slowing profit growth beat up the share price. Facebook reached 2.5 billion monthly users, up 2%, from 2.45 billion in Q3 2019 when it grew 1.65%, and it now has 1.66 billion daily active users, up 2.4% from 1.62 billion last quarter when it grew 2%. Facebook […]

Today Microsoft reported its fiscal 2020 second quarter (calendar Q4 2019) results, including revenue of $36.9 billion (up 14%), net income of $11.6 billion (up 38%), and diluted earnings per share of $1.51. Investors had expected the company to report profit of $1.32 per share, off revenue of $35.67 billion. The street had anticipated net […]

A new study provides more clues to the virus' origins.

Paola Delfín’s monochromatic murals found in Cancun, St. Petersburg, and cities worldwide all share a message of unity and community. The Mexico-based artist often creates impeccably detailed and stylized profile views, which show her subjects looking down or into the distance, joined by plants, grasses, and flowers of the local environment. Her lifelike works center on ideas of women’s strength and their ability to build community, in addition to the ways families are bound together and remember their ancestors⁠—although Delfín tells Colossal she has a more personal connection to the Cancun mural, which depicts a couple staring forward as they cradle a small boat. More

Mortal Kombat never really went away, but it also feels like it’s super back. The recent trilogy of truly excellent core fighting games (capped off by last year’s GOTY contender Mortal Kombat 11) […] The post ‘Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge’ Trailer Shows Kartoon Karnage appeared first on Geek.com.

RENO, Nev. (AP) - The top tourism boss for Reno-Tahoe is being investigated for unspecified allegations of misconduct. An attorney for the Reno-Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority confirmed Tuesday that President and CEO Phil DeLone is the subject of an ongoing personnel investigation. RSCVA attorney Benjamin Kennedy acknowledged the ...

PROVINCETOWN, Mass. (AP) - Cape Cod has its first legal pot shop. Curaleaf opened a recreational marijuana store in Provincetown, Massachusetts on Wednesday after town officials granted the Wakefield-based company local approval. The store is located along the resort town's bustling downtown of shops, restaurants and bars. The company says ...

Chandra's X-ray Observatory spotted four galaxy clusters engaging in colliding activity. (Photo Credit: X-ray: NASA / CXC / SAO / G.Schellenberger et al.; Optical:SDSS) NASA’s Chandra captured a sweet view of many galaxy clusters and they look like blue fireworks in space. Astronomers used data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory and other big telescopes to create a […] The post Chandra Takes a Peek at Mega-Cluster of Galaxies appeared first on Geek.com.

As Nintendo fans get itchy for a new Nintendo Direct that’s surely days away, rumors for big upcoming Nintendo Switch games are cropping up as they often do. At this point we’ve heard […] The post ‘Paper Mario’ Nintendo Switch Rumors Reminds Me Why Mario RPGs Are Bad appeared first on Geek.com.

Jason Whitlock wonders if it's a mistake to push the narrative that Jimmy Garoppolo is not a capable quarterback and that's what causes the 49ers to run so frequently.

Diego Valeri is back with the Portland Timbers and ready for a fresh start with the team after lengthy contract negotiations last season

Pro Football Hall of Fame member Rod Woodson joins James Harrison, Marcellus Wiley and Jason Whitlock to discuss comments made by Deion Sanders about how it's become too easy to make it into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

A look at a few of the key questions facing the Green Bay Packers in the upcoming 2020 offseason

In a rare occurrence, the Patriots are not in the Super Bowl. That’s a relief to many, many fans.

Brett Veach has worked his way up the ranks to become the respected general manager of the Kansas City Chiefs.